I have to admit I am a bit of an underachiever. I would rather have a good time and play now rather than work my butt off to break a sweat to attain some level of whatever everyone else is striving for. Overall, I look back on my life so far, and I have to say I have been pretty lucky, blessed, or charmed. Call it what you want, but things in general have come pretty easy to me. Despite what “they” say, I haven’t really worked all that hard – not by my standards anyway.

I have a close friend who is one of the hardest working people I know. He is very intelligent and well educated and is passionate about saving and changing people’s lives for the better. Not that long ago there were seven years of sheer blood sweat and tears. I have honestly never seen anyone work so hard, 7 days a week, with the lines between dusk and dawn often blurring. The stress to meet someone else’s minimum standards and expectations was painful to watch. I helplessly witnessed him juggling creditors to pay bills,trying to support a young family yet still struggling to just eke by. I felt guilty just watching and knowing what he was going through, wanting to help but at the same time trying to leave him space to travel his journey. After all, in comparison, my life was pretty cushy…five weeks holiday a year- paid – my own home, fantastic circle of friends and social life. I probably worked half as much as he did.

I did feel guilty, for a time.

So what was the difference? He- hard worker and driven – me – thrill seeker and a bit of a slacker. The difference is that I didn’t work hard, on things that weren’t working. All that time I thought I was lazy, cause I didn’t want to work that hard to get what I want. I believed that there either had to be an easier way to achieve what I wanted or something else would be a better idea.

Apparently, unbeknownst to myself I had been following the “signs”. Instead of forcing my way through obstacles and thinking that I was weak, or not good enough to see it through, I gave it up.

Or did I give up?

What I really did was let it go, as I held the belief that there was something preventing me or holding me back for a reason… for something even better.

What if you didn’t have to work hard? What if things just fell in your lap? Why are some people so lucky all the time?

Think about those times in your life when things worked out perfectly. It made you feel happy, lucky, dance about like MC Hammer or perhaps it was a downright miracle that things worked out exactly the way you hoped…or even better than you ever could have planned or imagined. Go back to that time or moment in your life and recall that scenario in your mind, surroundings and head space. Note either the similarities or differences in what was going on in your life and attitude at that time. Put them side by side and compare them. I dare you to see the difference.

Many say that you have to work hard to get what you want. (Who are these people anyway?) How true is this statement to you? Tell me where those laws are written, I want to see them – I don’t recall it being a commandment. Here’s a burner question for you: would you have any less in your life if you didn’t work as hard as you did?

Picture your life as a beautiful origami crane. This is a plain piece of paper folded into itself with some twists and turns, some tight, some loose, yet when it’s finished it’s transformed into something beautiful. There’s a pattern to something beautiful.

You have a pattern. Your life has a pattern. Every being has its own pattern.

The way you talk, the way you move, the way you feel. It’s a pattern. When you work with your pattern, it’s likely that things will work out with less effort and more joy. Think about the things that you are proud of, enjoy doing and are good at. That’s your pattern that has been there since you were a rug rat. If those three elements are not part of your life right now, it’s not your pattern. You are working too hard; you are swimming against your own personal current.

“Some of us think holding on makes us stronger – but sometimes it’s letting go”

– Herman Hesse

Do you believe that you have to work hard to get what you want or do you believe in just going with the flow?